1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to managing the delivery of letters, packages, parcels, and/or other items of mail through the U.S. Postal Service.
2. Description of the Related Art
First Class Mail has proven to be the preferred type of mail for many postal customers. On average, it will take about three days for a First Class letter to be delivered. This is an acceptable period of time for most purposes. First Class Mail is also more private than other classes of mail. Consequently, invoices, financial statements, personal data, and confidential information is routinely delivered First Class. Post offices also give this type of mail preferential treatment, for example, by providing forwarding and return services for letters sent to wrong or moved addresses at no charge.
The U.S. Postal Service also offers customers several “special services” for mail that qualifies as First Class. These services include Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation. The Delivery Confirmation service provides the sender with information about the date and time an item was delivered and, if delivery was attempted but unsuccessful, the date and time of the delivery attempt. The Signature Confirmation service provides the sender with the same information as the Delivery Confirmation service, and additionally keeps a record of each recipient's signature which is available upon request.
Some types of mail are unable to qualify as First Class or special services mail, mainly because their packaging does not meet specified size requirements. This type of mail includes but is not limited to various types of legal papers such as subpoenas and service of process, both of which would benefit greatly from the speed First Class service can provide and the assurance delivery and signature confirmation services can provide. Unfortunately, senders of this type of mail must resort to private carriers which charge significantly higher rates than any of the aforementioned services provided by the U.S. Postal service.